Best Campgrounds near Great Neck, NY
Camping options within reach of Great Neck, New York range from urban-adjacent sites to more traditional outdoor experiences. Nickerson Beach Park Campground in nearby Lido Beach offers oceanfront camping from April through November with full hookups for RVs and tent sites. Battle Row Campground in Old Bethpage provides year-round camping with more rustic amenities, while Liberty Harbor RV Park in Jersey City offers perhaps the most unique experience as essentially a parking lot with utilities that serves as the closest RV camping to Manhattan. Blydenburgh County Park in Smithtown features year-round camping with both tent and RV sites in a more natural setting approximately 25 miles east of Great Neck.
Reservation requirements vary significantly across these campgrounds, with most requiring advance booking, especially during summer months. As one camper noted about Liberty Harbor RV Park, "It's basically a parking lot, but the location can't be beat. Two ferries run to Manhattan and the PATH train is a 12-minute walk away." RV travelers should be particularly cautious about route planning, as one reviewer warned: "There are height restrictions on the parkways so RVs cannot travel on them without risk of crashing into bridges." Weather conditions remain mild through much of the camping season, though facilities at beach locations like Nickerson Beach can be windy during shoulder seasons and storms.
The camping experience near Great Neck reflects its metropolitan context. Beaver Pond Campground in Harriman State Park, about 40 miles northwest, receives praise for its natural setting while acknowledging its popularity: "If looking for privacy, back end of campgrounds provide adequate quietness, tucked away from the rest." Urban-adjacent sites like those at Gateway National Recreation Areas offer what one visitor called "a little slice of heaven in the busy areas of New York," though another noted "it's not really camping if you're going to see a play and then tour the Statue of Liberty." Wildlife encounters range from raccoons at Croton Point Park to bears at Harriman State Park, where rangers routinely brief campers on proper food storage.